Resurfacing to reduce parking
PARKING bays and taxi ranks are set to be suspended for several months and temporary closures put in place along a major Accrington town centre road.
Improvement works will begin on Blackburn Road, between Eagle Street and Broadway/St James Street, on February 1 and will last until the end of August.
Up to 25 parking, disa- bled parking, loading and taxi rank bays on Blackburn Road will ‘not be accessible for the majority of the construction period’.
The scheme is part of the wider £2m THI works in front of the Market Hall and Town Hall and will include drainage and pavement upgrades and resurfacing works.
Despite the disruption, the works have been welcomed by the Hyndburn Chamber of Trade.
Arrangements will also be made with affected businesses regarding loading, deliveries and access. A temporary taxi stand will be provided throughout the works on St James Street, opposite the NatWest bank.
Access for pedestrians along Blackburn Road to shops and businesses will be maintained at all times.
Shahed Mahmood, president of the Hyndburn Chamber of Trade and a businessman on Blackburn Road, said traders and shoppers are in favour of the works.
He said: “It’s welcomed. It really is. The parking bays and the pavements really do need resurfacing to make it level.
“We have spoken to customers and they agree that it will look nice and that it was about time something was done. It’s welcomed by all traders and pedestrians.
“Although it’s going to be done from February to August, it’s going to be carried out in phases like they are doing with the works outside the Market Hall and Town Hall.
“They have to do it in that way otherwise there will be no parking whatsoever. We will lose some parking for that period but there’s no other way around it.”
Lancashire County Council said Blackburn Road will remain open to vehicles at all times, with the exception of three full weekend closures between 8pm on February 2 and 6am on February 5, 8pm on February 23 and 6am on February 26, and 8pm on March 2 and 6am on March 5. Highways bosses said they will ‘endeavour to reopen spaces as the works proceed and it becomes practical and safe’.